Kyle looked behind and was greeted with a stretch of black pavement, with more vehicles driving over where he’d just been laying down. Glancing up, the sky held a few clouds, but otherwise appeared normal. There was nothing out of the ordinary: no shadowy figure that might have summoned him here, no glowing portal that he could have fallen through, and no echoing message in his mind from an otherworldly being about his sudden arrival. “What just happened? How– why did I get here? I didn’t die, right? Crap, am I gonna be able to even get back if there was no portal or anything?” he muttered to himself, rapidly trying to take in the last few moments.

“Maybe don’t be taking a nap in the street, son!”

“My, how pathetic. You must be the lousiest butler I’ve ever seen! Lord knows why your master keeps you around.”

“Mama, why was that servant boy shouting at the car? Doesn’t he know that’s where they go?”

All around him, Kyle met the judgemental gazes of passersby who, if he didn’t know any better, appeared to be cosplaying a mix of early 20th century and industrial-fantasy fashion: a middle aged man with black stains on his jeans and tight fitted white shirt, wearing a short black top hat and gold studded bracers on both his arms; a lady in a red and black dress that nearly reached the ground, with matching red lorgnette goggles and a maid by her side in a brown skirt, and carrying a filled paper bag; a boy in blue overalls and a round blue cap, pulling on his mother’s arm as he pointed towards the unsightly butler that would be Kyle.

Realizing the circumstances of his situation, he quickly took the bag off from around his neck and struggled to his feet. Come on Kyle, you’ve seen stuff like this happen time and again in too many shows and stories to count! Don’t make the same mistakes!

“A-apologies, ladies and gents! I didn’t mean for such an, uh, unseemly display!” he said, putting on a bit of an English accent. He bowed, avoiding everyone’s gazes as he apologized, hoping the act of bowing would translate properly. Gotta blend in; best not draw any attention right now. I’m foreign, but at least we can still understand each other. The accent kind of fit when Nick did it, so maybe it’ll work since they think I’m really a butler? Oh, please let this be a common custom!

“Hmph,” the middle aged man grumbled. “Typical Lanceran brat. We shoulda kicked the lot of you out years ago!” There were a few more murmurs, but the crowd otherwise resumed, disinterested in the measly butler. Kyle let out a sigh of relief as he looked around, hoping to find somewhere to collect himself. He found and sat at a bench under a nearby lamppost, which looked to house some kind of rock for a lightbulb. He rested his back against the cool metal and took a deep breath.

“Well, I still feel the pulsing of pain in every part of my body, so I can’t imagine I’m dreaming or anything…” he muttered, rubbing his sore neck. “Yeah, I must have been sent to another world.” He chuckled lightly. “Imagine, being isekaied while attending an anime convention! Ironic, but almost fitting, honestly. Especially for someone who fantasized about it all throughout high school. But this isn’t even close to what I always imagined it’d be like…”

Ever since he first saw Made in Another World, among other fantasy and isekai anime and manga, Kyle had dreamed about getting the chance to experience this very turn of events. Even if he didn’t actually expect anything to happen one day, he always thought about what if he had been the one in all those stories, fantasizing about various scenarios and what he’d do differently if he ever wound up in another world or a different time. That was about the only reason he wasn’t currently losing his mind, and in hindsight he was glad. Told my folks it wasn’t just some stupid obsession.

He looked up and down the street, then back to the sky again. The sun seemed to be at its peak, some high rise buildings could be seen in the distance, and cars sped by at about thirty miles an hour, but there was still no sign of anything out of place, or something indicating to have any relation to his sudden arrival. He really was clueless as to what had happened to bring him here, but he wasn’t going to dwell on it for too long. If it was anything like what he’d experienced vicariously through stories, things would sort themselves out shortly.

“Well, all that’s missing right now is a grand orchestra playing as I get a bird’s eye view of everything happening around the city, followed by the arrival of a new character that’ll be my companion during… whatever it is I’m here for.” He looked around, trying to spot anyone that could pass for a cliche main character. 

The people around him all appeared as human as he was; there were no elves, dwarves, or any other kind of fantastical race to be seen. And while there were no dragon- or large bird-drawn carriages, there were plenty of early twentieth century styled cars that all whispered “steampunk” to him more than anything. The buildings along the street seemed to all be various kinds of shops, with what looked like a taller, hotel-styled structure placed on one corner, and a convenience store on the other. Alas, no matter where Kyle looked, there was nobody whose outfit, hair, or demeanor screamed “I’m here to help you on your quest!” to him.

“Hmm… is it too soon? Or maybe I gotta go looking for them instead? Pretty sure Andreas from Made in Another World ran into his best friend Stark by hunting the same monster threatening a nearby village. Man, I hope I won’t have to go that far to meet someone.”

Just as he was about to stand up, he felt a rumbling as his stomach growled loud enough to get the attention of someone walking by. Face red, Kyle took his backpack off and rummaged through it, hoping to find something to sate his hunger. I knew a single overpriced street taco wasn't enough for lunch.

He’d lost the three-way duel of Roshambo with Nick and Tony for who got stuck carrying around the backpack of supplies, and was only now grateful for it. Sitting at the top were three plastic water bottles, each more than half gone given how hot the convention center had been. Next to them were the pamphlets Kyle and Tony had received for attending the anime convention; Nick had insisted on being the guide, so he had been the only one to hold onto his. 

Under those was the backup butler outfit, sans dress shoes, Kyle had brought as a just-in-case for Tony. While my outfit is a little tight, Tony’s is definitely too big for me. Maybe I’ll find some way to use it later down the line. Kyle nodded in respect as he recalled how Tony had insisted on following through with the punishment game, despite the awkwardness of the dress he wore. Kyle wasn’t sure if he could have done the same, and was glad that he’d practiced his airsoft shooting at home the week before. While Tony hadn’t been much of a concern for him, he wanted to make sure he also eked out over Nick, just for bragging rights.

Moving the cosplay out of the way, a smile appeared on Kyle’s face as he saw his own spare clothes he’d brought at the off chance he wanted to change into something more comfortable: a white and green flannel shirt, a pair of jeans, and his black-striped white sneakers. “Oh, I almost forgot about those! Thanks for the foresight, Nick,” he said, reaching into his shoes. He pulled out two portable chargers: his was a moderate sized black brick, and a blinking indicator showed it was at full charge, while Nick’s white, tube-shaped charger had a light running along its side indicating about a three-fourth’s charge. 

“And lastly…”

He looked at the palm sized, L-shaped canister sitting at the bottom of the bag. It was an inhaler, recently bought and with “Kyle S. Concord” written on it. Despite his exercise-induced asthma, he had been a strong runner since the age of thirteen, and he performed exceptionally well on the cross country team; so long as he had one of these inhalers, of course.

“Well, at least nothing smells funky. Not sure how useful the chargers will be, though, since I can’t use my phone for much, anyways. And my inhaler should last a while, as long as I take it easy… Man, it’s just too bad there wasn’t anything edible in here! Talk about poor planning.”

Lamenting his lack of food, Kyle put everything back into the bag as he fished for his phone out of his back pocket. It was almost half-dead already, but thankfully it didn’t seem to have received any cracks or damage from his tumble earlier. “If it’d been some cheesy sixteenth series phone like Nick’s, it’d probably have split in two.” He opened the lock screen and checked for any messages, calls, or emails he might have received since being isekaied. 

Nothing.

Not so much as a signal. As expected, this world doesn’t seem to have any sort of connection to mine. I wonder how far off it is from developing something like the internet?

He turned on the phone’s camera and recoiled; he hadn’t expected to see his own face. Why does that always happen? He noticed a black streak on his forehead from when he had been on the pavement, as well as the red of his swollen cheeks from being smacked around during the fall. At least he otherwise seemed to be okay: his blonde hair was pulled back into a short ponytail, his light blue eyes showing a hint of tiredness from the lack of sleep the night before, and the dark mole on his left cheek that stood out against his fairly light skin was the same size and shape as he remembered. 

He licked his thumb and wiped at his forehead the mark was mostly gone. Not like I’m hoping to impress anyone with my looks right now, but that’d probably stand out in a bad way. His outfit seemed to be fine too. The butler jacket matched the color and style of his black slacks, and if there were any marks from the asphalt, they blended in well enough that he couldn’t tell. Buttoned up and tucked in underneath, Kyle wore a sky blue shirt and navy blue tie. His shoes were a dressy kind he wasn’t familiar with, and the white gloves he was meant to be wearing to finish the cosplay were tucked into the jacket’s inner pocket.

When he was done examining his outfit for damages, Kyle turned his attention back to his surroundings. He thought for a moment before flipping his camera’s view and taking a few pictures of the area. “If nothing else, maybe I can just catalog important or sentimental stuff with pictures. They might have cameras in this world if they’ve got cars, but nothing beats digital access like this!” He filed the pictures in a folder titled “Day 1 of Making it in a New World” before turning off his phone and started making his way down the street.